Peyton Manning hurt as Broncos top Chargers without Fox

Nov. 11, 2013
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Denver Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas (88) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown late in the second quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. / Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports

by Lindsay H. Jones, USA TODAY Sports

by Lindsay H. Jones, USA TODAY Sports

SAN DIEGO â?? Peyton Manning crashed to the grass at Qualcomm Stadium late Sunday afternoon, driven to the ground when San Diego Chargers defensive end Corey Liuget wrapped up Manning's legs.

Manning, the Denver Broncos' 37-year-old quarterback, immediately grasped at his right leg. He climbed to his feet, awkwardly took a few steps, and then went to his knees.

Yes, the Broncos won, beating their AFC West rival 28-20 and improving to 8-1 heading into next week's critical game against the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. But little that happened in the first 10 weeks of the season, let alone the first 58 minutes of Sunday's game, would matter much if Manning were seriously injured.

Manning, after spending a few moments screaming at the game officials who had charged Denver with a timeout, hobbled back to rejoin his teammates. The good news was that before he was hit, Manning completed a pass to wideout Demaryius Thomas - and the first down ensured the Broncos would be able to run out the clock. He handed the ball off twice to running back Knowshon Moreno and twice took a knee to end the game.

Manning will have an MRI today after the Broncos return to Denver, though Manning declined to reveal which leg or which part of his body will be checked out.

Manning had an MRI on his ankle two weeks ago and wound up missing one practice before the Broncos' Week 8 victory against the Washington Redskins. He didn't practice during the bye week and was not limited at all in practices leading up to to the game in San Diego.

Manning thinks Monday's MRI will serve as "kind of an update" to that earlier test - and he was hoping it would reveal no damage. But Manning did need to pause before answering the final question of his nine-minute news conference.

Is he confident he'll be able to play next week against Kansas City?

"I certainly plan on it," he said.

The undefeated Chiefs (9-0), on their bye this week, have played backup quarterbacks from the Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills. Denver's backup quarterback is Brock Osweiler, a second-round pick in 2012, whose only regular-season experience has been limited minutes in garbage time of blowout wins.

Osweiler appeared ready to come in for the final few snaps against the Chargers, but Manning wouldn't leave the field.

"I didn't think we were going to be running any sprint-outs or naked boot legs at that point," Manning said. "So I felt OK to stay in and finish it out."

Denver left tackle Chris Clark, sitting in his locker in the back corner of the visitor's locker room, needed a couple of moments to try to describe what it felt like to see Manning take such a hard hit.

"No matter whose guy it was, it doesn't matter. We all take it upon ourselves; we can't let that happen," Clark said. "To see that happen, it's just so devastating, and I don't ever want to see that again. I'm sure the other guys feel the same way."

Before Manning's big hit, he threw for 330 yards and four touchdown passes, including three to Thomas and one to Julius Thomas.

Manning was sacked twice, including a third-quarter hit in which he was chased down from behind and was stripped of the ball - his fifth lost fumble of the year. The Chargers (4-5) scored a touchdown two plays later to cut Denver's lead to 28-13 midway through the third quarter.

That was San Diego's first touchdown of the game. Despite dominating time of possession in the first half (22:29 to 7:31 for Denver), the Chargers managed only a pair of field goals on three scoring chances. One drive ended with a missed field goal.